Thirty analogues of natural meiogynin A, a pan-Bcl-2 inhibitor, were prepared in order to elaborate cytotoxic compounds on specific cancer cells overexpressing one or more proteins of the Bcl-2 family. The interaction of all the new analogues with Bcl-xL, Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 proteins was first evaluated by fluorescence polarization assay (FPA) and showed that modulation of the lateral chain has a dramatic impact as subtle changes significantly modify the activity on the target proteins. The acetoxymethyl prodrugs of the two most active compounds were then elaborated to determine their cytotoxicity on B cell lines. A strong cytotoxic effect on BL2, RS4;11 and H929 cells was observed with a triazole prodrug that induces apoptosis.
Keywords: Apoptosis; Bcl-2 proteins; Cancer; Natural compound; Protein-protein interactions.
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